Paneuropean Working Group

The Paneuropean Working Group in the European Parliament was established in 1985 by Otto von Habsburg.[1] It aims at bringing Members of the European Parliament together, who follow the vision and principles of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi. Already after the end of the First World War, he formulated his thoughts about a common Europe in freedom, rule of law and peace.[2]

Since 2009, the Austrian Member of the European Parliament, Paul Rübig is the elected President of the Working Group, after he had served already several years as Vice-President. Previous presidents were Nicolas Estgen, Leo Tindemans (1994-1999) and Ingo Friedrich (1999–2009).[3]

Activities

Once a month, every Tuesday during the Strasbourg plenary week of the European Parliament, the Working Group invites high-ranking personalities from politics, business, religions and culture into the European Parliament. The group wants to encourage networking between the Members of the European Parliament, in order to establish open debates and to find common solutions for the problems of a common in a globalized world. Additionally, the group also organizes also events in Brussels.

Past Events[4]
DateSpeaker FunctionTopic
16 April 2013Nikola Poposki Foreign Minister of the Republic of MacedoniaState of Play and Prospects in the EU accession process of Macedonia
12 March 2013Enver Hoxhaj Foreign Minister of the Republic of KosovoKosovo, five years of statehood: Success stories and challenges
26 February 2013Jan Tombiński Head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine2013 - Decision year of Ukraine
5 February 2013Hans-Gert Pöttering, Arnaud Danjean, Alain Terrenoire Current and former Members of the European Parliament50 years of Elysée Treaty: The French-German friendship as driving force for Europe?
15 January 2013Samir Khalil Samir Professor for Christian-oriental theology and Islamism in Beirut, Paris, RomWhere is the Arab Spring? What could be the European contribution?
11 December 2012Walter Spindler Deputy Commander of EurocorpsEurocorps - 50 years after the Elysée Treaty
20 November 2012Peter Turkson President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and PeaceFreedom of religion and the discrimination and persecution of Christians
11 September 2012Jean-Claude Mignon President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropeThe European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
3 July 2012Franjo Komarica Bishop of Banja LukaThe political situation of Bosnia-Herzegovina

References
  1. Dafür lebte Otto von Habsburg Archived 2013-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, Paneuropa Union Germany, retrieved 16 April 2013.
  2. Selbstbeschreibung, Homepage of the Paneuropean Working Group, retrieved on 16 April 2013.
  3. Ingo Friedrich übergibt den Vorsitz der Paneuropa-Arbeitsgruppe im Europäischen Parlament Archived 2014-11-09 at the Wayback Machine, Presse release of Dr. Ingo Friedrich, 24 June 2009.
  4. List of past events, Homepage of the Paneuropean Working Group, retrieved on 19 April 2013.
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